Tuning Pore Heterogeneity in Covalent Organic Frameworks for Enhanced Enzyme Accessibility and Resistance against Denaturants

cRGD-Peptide Modified Covalent Organic Frameworks for Precision Chemotherapy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

This study presents the use of nanoscale covalent organic frameworks (nCOFs) conjugated with tumor-targeting peptides for the targeted therapy of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). While peptides have previously been used for targeted delivery, their conjugation with COFs represents an innovative approach in this field. In particular, we have developed alkyne-functionalized nCOFs chemically modified with cyclic RGD peptides (Alkyn-nCOF-cRGD). This configuration is designed to specifically target αvβ3 integrins that are overexpressed in TNBC cells. These nCOFs exhibit excellent biocompatibility and are engineered to selectively disintegrate under acidic conditions, allowing for precise and localized drug release in tumor environment. Doxorubicin, a chemotherapeutic agent, has been encapsulated in these nCOFs with high loading efficiency. The therapeutic potential of Alkyn-nCOF-cRGD has been demonstrated in vitro and in vivo models. It shows significantly improved drug uptake and targeted cell death in TNBC, highlighting the efficacy of receptor-mediated endocytosis and pH-controlled drug release. This strategy leverages the unique properties of nCOFs with targeted drug delivery to achieve significant advances in personalized cancer therapy and set a new standard for precision chemotherapeutic delivery.

Fabricating Polymeric Micelles with Enrichment and Cavity Effect for In Situ Enzyme Imobilization from Natural Biosystems

Metal-organic frameworks and hydrogen-organic frameworks (MOFs and HOFs) are attractive hosts for enzyme immobilization, but they are limited to immobilizing the purified enzymes, making industrial upscaling unattractive. Herein, aptamer-modified dual thermoresponsive polymeric micelles with switchable self-assembly and core-shell structure are constructed, which enable selective immobilization of trypsin directly from complex biological systems through a cascade operation of separation and immobilization. Their steric self-assembly provides a large amount of adsorption sites on the soluble micellar shell, resulting in high adsorption capacity and excellent selectivity. Meanwhile, their aptamer affinity ligand and cavity maintain the native conformations of trypsin and offer protective effects even in harsh conditions. The maximum adsorption capacity of the polymeric micelles for trypsin was determined to be 197 mg/g at 60 min, superior to those of MOFs and HOFs. 67.2 and 86.6% of its original activity was retained for trypsin immobilized in the cavity under strong alkaline and acidic conditions, respectively.

Developing Covalent Organic Framework Biocatalysts through Enzyme Encapsulation

Utilizing covalent organic frameworks (COFs) as porous supports to encapsulate enzyme represents an advanced strategy for constructing COFs biocatalysts, which has inspired numerous interests across various applications. As the structural advantages including ultrastable covalent-bonded linkage, tailorable pore structure, and metal-free biocompatibility, the resultant enzyme-COFs biocatalysts showcase functional enhancement in catalytic activity, chemical stability, long-term durability, and recyclability. This Concept describes the recent advances in the methodological strategies for engineering the COFs biocatalysts, with specific emphasis on the pore entrapment and in situ encapsulation strategies. The structural advantages of the COFs hybrid biocatalysts for organic synthesis, environment- and energy-associated applications are also canvassed. Additionally, the remaining challenges and the forward-looking directions in this field are also discussed. We believe that this Concept can offer useful methodological guidance for developing active and robust COFs biocatalysts.

Enzyme Immobilization using Covalent Organic Frameworks: From Synthetic Strategy to COFs Functional Role

Enzymes, a class of biocatalysts, exhibit remarkable catalytic efficiency, specificity, and selectivity, governing many reactions that are essential for various cascades within living cells. The immobilization of structurally flexible enzymes on appropriate supports holds significant importance in facilitating biomimetic transformations in extracellular environments. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have emerged as ideal candidates for enzyme immobilization due to high surface tunability, diverse chemical/structural designs, exceptional stability, and metal-free nature. Various immobilization techniques have been proposed to fabricate COF-enzyme biocomposites, offering significant enhancements in activity and reusability for COF-immobilized enzymes as well as new insights into developing advanced enzyme-based applications. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art strategies for immobilizing enzymes within COFs by focusing on their applicability and versatility. These strategies are systematically summarized and compared by categorizing them into postsynthesis immobilization and in situ immobilization, where their respective strengths and limitations are thoroughly discussed. Combined with an overview of critical emerging applications, we further elucidate the multifaceted roles of COFs in enzyme immobilization and subsequent applications, highlighting the advanced biofunctionality achievable through COFs.

Social Self-Sorting of Quasi-Racemates: A Unique Approach for Dual-Pore Molecular Crystals

Despite recent advances in porous organic molecular crystals, the engineering of dual-pore systems within the intermolecular voids remains a significant challenge. In this study, we have achieved the crystallization-induced social self-sorting of "quasi-racemic" dialdehydes into a macrocyclic imine. X-ray crystallographic analysis unambiguously characterizes the resulting structure as incorporating two quasi-racemate pairs with four diamine molecules. Notably, different alkyl substituents on the quasi-racemates afford two types of one-dimensional pores within the macrocyclic imine crystal. The different adsorption properties of these pores were substantiated through adsorption experiments. An intriguing helical arrangement of guest molecules was observed within one of the pores. This study provides pioneering evidence that the social self-sorting of quasi-racemates offers a new methodology for creating dual-functional supramolecular materials.

Carboxy-Functionalized Covalent Organic Framework as a Carrier for Lipase Immobilization and Its Application in Inhibitors Screening

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with large specific surface areas, high porosity, good stability, and designable structure are promising carriers for immobilized enzymes. It is important to explore lipase inhibitors from natural foods as lipase inhibitors are closely related to the treatment of obesity. In this work, a carboxyl functionalized covalent organic framework (TpBD-3COOH) was prepared by solvothermal method for covalent immobilization of porcine pancreatic lipase (PPL) and obtained the enzyme-decorated COF (PPL@COF). The immobilized lipase showed wider pH and temperature tolerance with the same optimal pH and temperature of 7.5 and 50 ℃ compared to free lipase. After 6 successive reuses, the PPL@COF maintained 53.0% of its original activity. Immobilized lipase also displayed enhanced storage stability (55.4% after 14 days at 4 ℃). When p-nitrophenyl acetate was applied as the substrate, the calculated Michaelis constant was 3.57 mM and the half maximal inhibitory concentration of orlistat was 3.20 μM. Finally, the PPL@COF was used for enzyme inhibitors screening from natural foods combined with UV spectrophotometry, and Hawthorn was screened for excellent lipase inhibitory activity.

Fabrication of immobilized lipases from Candida rugosa on hierarchical mesoporous silica for enzymatic enrichment of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids by selective hydrolysis

In this study, lipase from Candida rugosa was immobilized on hydrophobic hierarchical porous hollow silica microsphere (HPHSM-C3) via adsorption. The prepared biocatalyst HPHSM-C3@CRL exhibited higher activity, thermal and pH stability. HPHSM-C3@CRL remained 70.2% of initial activity after 30 days of storage at 24 °C and 50.4% of initial activity after 10 cycles. Moreover, HPHSM-C3@CRL was utilized in enzymatic enrichment of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFAs) in glycerides, achieving ω-3 PUFAs content of 53.42% with the hydrolysis rate of 48.78% under optimal condition. The Km and Vmax value of HPHSM-C3@CRL was 42.2% lower and 63.5% higher than those of CRL, respectively. The 3D structure analysis of CRL, substrates and pore structure of HPHSM-C3 suggested that the hierarchical pore improved activity and selectivity of immobilized lipase. This result demonstrated that HPHSM-C3@CRL may be an effective biocatalyst for the enzymatic enrichment of ω-3 PUFAs in food industries.

Two-Dimensional Conjugated Metal-Organic Frameworks with a Ring-in-Ring Topology and High Electrical Conductance

Electrically conducting two-dimensional (2D) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have garnered significant interest due to their remarkable structural tunability and outstanding electrical properties. However, the design and synthesis of high-performance materials face challenges due to the limited availability of specific ligands and pore structures. In this study, we have employed a novel highly branched D3h symmetrical planar conjugated ligand, dodechydroxylhexabenzotrinaphthylene (DHHBTN) to fabricate a series of 2D conductive MOFs, named M-DHHBTN (M=Co, Ni, and Cu). This new family of MOFs offers two distinct types of pores, elevating the structural complexity of 2D conductive MOFs to a more advanced level. The intricate tessellation patterns of the M-DHHBTN are elucidated through comprehensive analyses involving powder X-ray diffraction, theoretical simulations, and high-resolution transmission electron microscope. Optical-pump terahertz-probe spectroscopic measurements unveiled carrier mobility in DHHBTN-based 2D MOFs spanning from 0.69 to 3.10 cm2 V-1 s-1. Among M-DHHBTN famility, Cu-DHHBTN displayed high electrical conductivity reaching 0.21 S cm-1 at 298 K with thermal activation behavior. This work leverages the "branched conjugation" of the ligand to encode heteroporosity into highly conductive 2D MOFs, underscoring the significant potential of heterogeneous double-pore structures for future applications.

Immobilized Multi-Enzyme/Nanozyme Biomimetic Cascade Catalysis for Biosensing Applications

Multiple enzyme-induced cascade catalysis has an indispensable role in the process of complex life activities, and is widely used to construct robust biosensors for analyzing various targets. The immobilized multi-enzyme cascade catalysis system is a novel biomimetic catalysis strategy that immobilizes various enzymes with different functions in stable carriers to simulate the synergistic catalysis of multiple enzymes in biological systems, which enables high stability of enzymes and efficiency enzymatic cascade catalysis. Nanozymes, a type of nanomaterial with intrinsic enzyme-like characteristics and excellent stabilities, are also widely applied instead of enzymes to construct immobilized cascade systems, achieving better catalytic performance and reaction stability. Due to good stability, reusability, and remarkably high efficiency, the immobilized multi-enzyme/nanozyme biomimetic cascade catalysis systems show distinct advantages in promoting signal transduction and amplification, thereby attracting vast research interest in biosensing applications. This review focuses on the research progress of the immobilized multi-enzyme/nanozyme biomimetic cascade catalysis systems in recent years. The construction approaches, factors affecting the efficiency, and applications for sensitive biosensing are discussed in detail. Further, their challenges and outlooks for future study are also provided.

Boosted Enzyme Activity via Encapsulation within Metal-Organic Frameworks with Pores Matching Enzyme Size and Shape

A novel and versatile approach called "physical imprinting" is introduced to modulate enzyme conformation using mesoporous materials, addressing challenges in achieving improved enzyme activity and stability. Metal-organic frameworks with tailored mesopores, precisely matching enzyme size and shape, are synthesized. Remarkably, enzymes encapsulated within these customized mesopores exhibit over 1670% relative activity compared to free enzymes, maintaining outstanding efficiency even under harsh conditions such as heat, exposure to organic solvents, wide-ranging pH extremes from acidic to alkaline, and exposure to a digestion cocktail. After 18 consecutive cycles of use, the immobilized enzymes retain 80% of their initial activity. Additionally, the encapsulated enzymes exhibit a substantial increase in catalytic efficiency, with a 14.1-fold enhancement in kcat/KM compared to native enzymes. This enhancement is among the highest reported for immobilized enzymes. The improved enzyme activity and stability are corroborated by solid-state UV-vis, electron paramagnetic resonance, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and solid-state NMR spectroscopy. The findings not only offer valuable insights into the crucial role of size and shape complementarity within confined microenvironments but also establish a new pathway for developing solid carriers capable of enhancing enzyme activity and stability.

Hierarchically Porous Covalent Organic Frameworks: Synthesis Methods and Applications

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with high porosity have garnered considerable interest for various applications owing to their robust and customizable structure. However, conventional COFs are hindered by their narrow pore size, which poses limitations for applications such as heterogeneous catalysis and guest delivery that typically involve large molecules. The development of hierarchically porous COF (HP-COF), featuring a multi-scale aperture distribution, offers a promising solution by significantly enhancing the diffusion capacity and mass transfer for larger molecules. This review focuses on the recent advances in the synthesis strategies of HP-COF materials, including topological structure design, in-situ templating, monolithic COF synthesis, defect engineering, and crystalline self-transformation. The specific operational principles and affecting factors in the synthesis process are summarized and discussed, along with the applications of HP-COFs in heterogeneous catalysis, toxic component treatment, optoelectronics, and the biomedical field. Overall, this review builds a bridge to understand HP-COFs and provides guidance for further development of them on synthesis strategies and applications.

Biomolecules meet organic frameworks: from synthesis strategies to diverse applications

Biomolecules are essential in pharmaceuticals, biocatalysts, biomaterials, etc., but unfortunately they are extremely susceptible to extraneous conditions. When biomolecules meet porous organic frameworks, significantly improved thermal, chemical, and mechanical stabilities are not only acquired for raw biomolecules, but also molecule sieving, substrate enrichment, chirality property, and other functionalities are additionally introduced for application expansions. In addition, the intriguing synergistic effect stemming from elaborate and concerted interactions between biomolecules and frameworks can further enhance application performances. In this paper, the synthesis strategies of the so-called bio-organic frameworks (BOFs) in recent years are systematically reviewed and classified. Additionally, their broad applications in biomedicine, catalysis, separation, sensing, and imaging are introduced and discussed. Before ending, the current challenges and prospects in the future for this infancy-stage but significant research field are also provided. We hope that this review will offer a concise but comprehensive vision of designing and constructing multifunctional BOF materials as well as their full explorations in various fields.

Highly Enantioselective Catalysis by Enzyme Encapsulated in Metal Azolate Frameworks with Micelle-Controlled Pore Sizes

Encapsulating enzymes within metal-organic frameworks has enhanced their structural stability and interface tunability for catalysis. However, the small apertures of the frameworks restrict their effectiveness to small organic molecules. Herein, we present a green strategy directed by visible linker micelles for the aqueous synthesis of MAF-6 that enables enzymes for the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of chiral molecules. Due to the large pore aperture (7.6 Å), double the aperture size of benchmark ZIF-8 (3.4 Å), MAF-6 allows encapsulated enzyme BCL to access larger substrates and do so faster. Through the optimization of surfactants' effect during synthesis, BCL@MAF-6-SDS (SDS = sodium dodecyl sulfate) displayed a catalytic efficiency (Kcat/Km) that was 420 times greater than that of BCL@ZIF-8. This biocomposite efficiently catalyzed the synthesis of drug precursor molecules with 94-99% enantioselectivity and nearly quantitative yields. These findings represent a deeper understanding of de novo synthetic encapsulation of enzyme in MOFs, thereby unfolding the great potential of enzyme@MAF catalysts for asymmetric synthesis of organics and pharmaceuticals.

Covalent Organic Frameworks: Opportunities for Rational Materials Design in Cancer Therapy

Nanomedicines are extensively used in cancer therapy. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are crystalline organic porous materials with several benefits for cancer therapy, including porosity, design flexibility, functionalizability, and biocompatibility. This review examines the use of COFs in cancer therapy from the perspective of reticular chemistry and function-oriented materials design. First, the modification sites and functionalization methods of COFs are discussed, followed by their potential as multifunctional nanoplatforms for tumor targeting, imaging, and therapy by integrating functional components. Finally, some challenges in the clinical translation of COFs are presented with the hope of promoting the development of COF-based anticancer nanomedicines and bringing COFs closer to clinical trials.

Hydrogen-Bonded Supramolecular Nanotrap Enabling the Interfacial Activation of Hosted Enzymes

Engineering nanotraps to immobilize fragile enzymes provides new insights into designing stable and sustainable biocatalysts. However, the trade-off between activity and stability remains a long-standing challenge due to the inevitable diffusion barrier set up by nanocarriers. Herein, we report a synergetic interfacial activation strategy by virtue of hydrogen-bonded supramolecular encapsulation. The pore wall of the nanotrap, in which the enzyme is encapsulated, is modified with methyl struts in an atomically precise position. This well-designed supramolecular pore results in a synergism of hydrogen-bonded and hydrophobic interactions with the hosted enzyme, and it can modulate the catalytic center of the enzyme into a favorable configuration with high substrate accessibility and binding capability, which shows up to a 4.4-fold reaction rate and 4.9-fold conversion enhancements compared to free enzymes. This work sheds new light on the interfacial activation of enzymes using supramolecular engineering and also showcases the feasibility of interfacial assembly to access hierarchical biocatalysts featuring high activity and stability simultaneously.

Creating amphiphilic porosity in two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks via steric-hindrance-mediated precision hydrophilic-hydrophobic microphase separation

Creating different pore environments within a covalent organic framework (COF) will lead to useful multicompartment structure and multiple functions, which however has been scarcely achieved. Herein we report designed synthesis of three two-dimensional COFs with amphiphilic porosity by steric-hindrance-mediated precision hydrophilic-hydrophobic microphase separation. Dictated by the different steric effect of the substituents introduced to a monomer, dual-pore COFs with kgm net, in which all hydroxyls locate in trigonal micropores while hydrophobic sidechains exclusively distribute in hexagonal mesopores, have been constructed to form completely separated hydrophilic and hydrophobic nanochannels. The unique amphiphilic channels in the COFs enable the formation of Janus membranes via interface growth. This work has realized the creation of two types of channels with opposite properties in one COF, demonstrating the feasibility of introducing different properties/functions into different pores of heteropore COFs, which can be a useful strategy to develop multifunctional materials.

Covalent Organic Frameworks for the Purification of Recombinant Enzymes and Heterogeneous Biocatalysis

Recombinant enzymes have gained prominence due to their diverse functionalities and specificity and are often a greener alternative in biocatalysis. This context makes purifying recombinant enzymes from host cells and other impurities crucial. The primary goal is to isolate the pure enzyme of interest and ensure its stability under ambient conditions. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs), renowned for their well-ordered structure and permeability, offer a promising approach for purifying histidine-tagged (His-tagged) enzymes. Furthermore, immobilizing enzymes within COFs represents a growing field in heterogeneous biocatalysis. In this study, we have developed a flow-based technology utilizing a nickel-infused covalent organic framework (Ni-TpBpy COF) to combine two distinct processes: the purification of His-tagged enzymes and the immobilization of enzymes simultaneously. Our work primarily focuses on the purification of three His-tagged enzymes β-glucosidase, cellobiohydrolase, and endoglucanase as well as two proteins with varying molecular weights, namely, green fluorescent protein (27 kDa) and BG Rho (88 kDa). We employed Ni-TpBpy as a column matrix to showcase the versatility of our system. Additionally, we successfully obtained a Ni-TpBpy COF immobilized with enzymes, which can serve as a heterogeneous catalyst for the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl-β-d-glucopyranoside and carboxymethylcellulose. These immobilized enzymes demonstrated catalytic activity comparable to that of their free counterparts, with the added advantages of recyclability and enhanced stability under ambient conditions for an extended period, ranging from 60 to 90 days. This contrasts with the free enzymes, which do not maintain their activity as effectively over time.

Light-Switchable Biocatalytic Covalent-Organic Framework Nanomotors for Aqueous Contaminants Removal

Self-propelled nanomotors represent a promising class of adaptable and versatile technologies with broad applications in the realms of biomedicine and environmental remediation. Herein, we report a biocatalytic nanomotor based on a covalent-organic framework (COF) that demonstrates intelligent and switchable motion triggered by a blue-to-red light switch. Consequently, when exposed to blue light, the nanomotor significantly enhances the removal of contaminants in aqueous solutions due to its elevated mobility. Conversely, it effectively deactivates its motion and contaminant removal upon exposure to red light. This study explores the heterogeneous assembly strategy of the COF-based nanomotor and its light-controlled propulsion performance and provides a novel strategy for the regulation of movement, offering valuable insights for the design and practical applications of nanomotors.

2D Covalent Organic Frameworks with Kagome Lattice: Synthesis and Applications

2D covalent organic frameworks with Kagome (kgm) topology are a promising class of crystalline frameworks that possess both triangular and hexagonal pores. These dual-pore structures enable kgm COFs to exhibit unique advantages in selective separation, mass transfer, and targeted drug release. However, the synthesis of 2D kgm COFs has been hindered by the reliance on empirical methods. This review systematically summarizes the conventional macrocycle-to-framework strategy, typical [4+2] co-polymerization synthetic strategy, and bifunctional molecules self-condensation approach for constructing 2D kgm COFs. Factors influencing the formation of kgm lattice are surveyed, such as monomer type, solvent polarity, substrate concentration, etc., and highlight the representative examples on targeted synthesis. Additionally, applications of 2D kgm COFs and relationships between structure and performances are summarized. Finally, key fundamental perspectives are proposed to accelerate the further development of this intriguing material.

In Situ Encapsulation of Cytochrome c within Covalent Organic Frames Using Deep Eutectic Solvents under Ambient Conditions

In situ integration of enzymes with covalent organic frameworks (COFs) to form hybrid biocatalysts is both significant and challenging. In this study, we present an innovative strategy employing deep eutectic solvents (DESs) to synergistically synthesize COFs and shield cytochrome c (Cyt c). By utilizing DESs as reaction solvents in combination with water, we successfully achieved rapid and in situ encapsulation of Cyt c within COFs (specifically COF-TAPT-TFB) under ambient conditions. The resulting Cyt c@COF-TAPT-TFB composite demonstrates a remarkable preservation of enzymatic activity. This encapsulation strategy also imparts exceptional resistance to organic solvents and exhibits impressive recycling stability. Additionally, the enhanced catalytic efficiency of Cyt c@COF-TAPT-TFB in a photoenzymatic cascade reaction is also showcased.

Double-Walled Covalent Organic Frameworks with High Stability

Double-walled covalent organic frameworks, consisting of two same building blocks parallel to each other forming ladder-shape linkers, could enhance the stability of the frameworks and increase the density of functional sites, thus making them suitable for various applications. In this study, two double-walled covalent organic frameworks, namely DW-COF-1 and DW-COF-2, were successfully synthesized via imine condensation. The resulting DW-COFs exhibited a honeycomb topology, high crystallinity and stability. Particularly, DW-COF-2 showed excellent resistance toward boiling water, strong acid, and strong base, due to its double-walled structure, which limits the exposure of labile imine bonds to external chemical environments. The DW-COFs showed high porosity near 900 m2 /g, making them suitable for gas storage/separation. The selective gas adsorption experiments showed that at 273 K and 1 atm pressure, DW-COF-1 and DW-COF-2 exhibited a good IAST selectivity towards CO2 /N2 (15/85) adsorption, with selectivity values of 121.3 and 56.4 for CO2 over N2 , respectively.

Enzyme immobilization on covalent organic framework supports

Enzymes are natural catalysts with high catalytic activity, substrate specificity and selectivity. Their widespread utilization in industrial applications is limited by their sensitivity to harsh reaction conditions and difficulties relating to their removal and re-use after the reaction is complete. These limitations can be addressed by immobilizing the enzymes in solid porous supports. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are ideal candidate carriers because of their good biocompatibility, long-term water stability and large surface area. In post-synthetic immobilization, the enzyme is added to an existing COF; this has had limited success because of enzyme leaching and pore blockage by enzymes that are too large. Direct-immobilization methods-building the COF around the enzyme-allow tailored incorporation of proteins of any size and result in materials with lower levels of leaching and better mass transport of reactants and products. This protocol describes direct-immobilization methods that can be used to fabricate enzyme@COF (@ = engulfing) biocomposites with rationally programmed structures and functions. If COF construction requires harsh reaction conditions, the enzyme can be protected by using a removable metal-organic framework. Alternatively, a direct in situ approach, in which the enzyme and the COF monomers assemble under very mild conditions, can be used. Examples of both approaches are described: enzyme@COF-42-B/43-B capsules (enzymes including catalase, glucose oxidase, etc.) with ZIF-90 or ZPF-2 as protectors, and lipase@NKCOF-98/99 via in situ direct-immobilization methods (synthesis timing: 30-100 min). Example assays for physical and functional characterization of the COF and enzyme@COF materials are also described.

Synthesis of a covalent organic framework with hetero-environmental pores and its medicine co-delivery application

The topology type and the functionalization of pores play an important role in regulating the performance of covalent organic frameworks. Herein, we designed and synthesized the covalent organic framework with hetero-environmental pores using predesigned asymmetrical dialdehyde monomer. According to the results of structural characterization, crystallinity investigation, and theoretical calculation, the hetero-environmental pores of the obtained framework are regarded as the alternant arrangement. The distinctive hetero pore structure leads the designed material to show more advantages as compared with control materials in loading both hydrophobic and hydrophilic antibiotics for wound healing. This dual-antibiotic strategy can expand the antibacterial range as compared with the single antibiotic one, and reduce the generation of drug resistance. In summary, this strategy for designing covalent organic frameworks with hetero-environmental pores can extend the structural variety and provide a pathway for improving the practical application performance of these materials.

Improving the Bioactivity and Stability of Embedded Enzymes by Covalent Organic Frameworks

De novo embedding enzymes within reticular chemistry materials have shown the enhancement of physical and chemical stability for versatile catalytic reactions. Compared to metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are usually considered to be the more superior host of enzymes because of their large channels with low diffusion barriers, outstanding chemical/thermal stability, and metal-free nature. However, detailed investigations on the comparison of COFs and MOFs in enhancing biocatalytic performance have not been explored. Here, we de novo encapsulated enzymes within two COFs via a mechanochemical strategy, which avoided the extreme synthetic conditions of COFs and highly maintained the biological activities of the embedded enzymes. The enzymes@COFs biocomposites exhibited a much higher activity (3.4-14.7 times higher) and enhanced stability than those in MOFs (ZIF-8, ZIF-67, HKUST-1, MIL-53, and CaBDC), and the rate parameter (kcat/Km) of enzyme@COFs was 41.3 times higher than that of enzyme@ZIF-8. Further explorations showed that the conformation of enzymes inside MOFs was disrupted, owing to the harmful interfacial interactions between enzymes and metal ions as confirmed by ATR-FTIR, fluorescence spectroscopy, and XPS data. In contrast, enzymes that were embedded in metal-free COFs highly preserved the natural conformation of free enzymes. This study provides a better understanding of the interfacial interactions between reticular supports and enzymes, which paves a new road for optimizing the bioactivities of immobilized enzymes.

Delivery of Small-Molecule Drugs and Protein Drugs by Injectable Acid-Responsive Self-Assembled COF Hydrogels for Combinatorial Lung Cancer Treatment

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have revealed enormous application prospects for cancer therapeutics recently, but their assembly systems face considerable challenges, such as the codelivery of hydrophobic and hydrophilic protein drugs with different physicochemical properties for in vivo delivery and release, as well as endosomal/lysosomal escape of protein drugs. To address these issues, we leveraged the high specific surface area, lipotropism, and structural tunability of boronate ester-linked COFs (COF-1) for the construction of advanced drug delivery systems. We first encapsulated the small-molecule drug doxorubicin (DOX) into a lipophilic COF (COF-1@DOX) and immobilized the functional protein drug ribonuclease A (RNase A) on the surface of the COF (RNase A-COF-1@DOX). We then created a novel composite delivery system (RNase A-COF-1@DOX gel) by cross-linking an albumin-oxygenated hydrogel (gel) network into the pores of COFs, allowing targeted codelivery of protein and small-molecule drugs in vivo. Using in-living body and multichannel fluorescence imaging, we analyzed the in vivo codelivery of protein and small-molecule drugs in a Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) model. Finally, we applied the RNase A-COF-1@DOX gel to treat lung cancer in mice. This study paves an avenue for constructing COF-based drug delivery systems for lung cancer treatment and holds the potential to be extended to other types of cancer for more effective and targeted therapeutic treatments.

Large-Scale Synthesis of Covalent Organic Frameworks: Challenges and Opportunities

Connecting organic building blocks by covalent bonds to design porous crystalline networks has led to covalent organic frameworks (COFs), consequently transferring the flexibility of dynamic linkages from discrete architectures to extended structures. By virtue of the library of organic building blocks and the diversity of dynamic linkages and topologies, COFs have emerged as a novel field of organic materials that propose a platform for tailor-made complex structural design. Progress over the past two decades in the design, synthesis, and functional exploration of COFs in diverse applications successively established these frameworks in materials chemistry. The large-scale synthesis of COFs with uniform structures and properties is of profound importance for commercialization and industrial applications; however, this is in its infancy at present. An innovative designing and synthetic approaches have paved novel ways to address future hurdles. This review article highlights the fundamental of COFs, including designing principles, coupling reactions, topologies, structural diversity, synthetic strategies, characterization, growth mechanism, and activation aspects of COFs. Finally, the major challenges and future trends for large-scale COF fabrication are outlined.

Enhancing Enzyme Activity Using Hydrophilic Hollow Layered Double Hydroxides as Encapsulation Carriers

Enzyme immobilization enables the fabrication of flexible and powerful biocatalytic systems that can meet the needs of green and efficient development in various fields. However, restricted electron and mass transfer during enzymatic reactions and disruption of the enzyme structure during encapsulation limit the wide application of the immobilized enzyme systems. Herein, we report an encapsulation strategy based on hollow-shell-layered double hydroxides (LDHs; ZnCo-LDH) for green and nondestructive enzyme immobilization. Benefiting from the protective and enzyme-friendly microenvironment provided by the hydrophilic hollow structure of ZnCo-LDH, the encapsulated enzyme maintains a nearly natural enzyme biostructure and enhanced stability. Notably, mesoporous ZnCo-LDH with excellent electrical properties considerably facilitates electron and mass transport during enzymatic reactions, exhibiting 5.56 times the catalytic efficiency of free enzymes or traditional enzyme encapsulation systems. The current study broadens the family of encapsulated carriers and alleviates the trade-off between enzyme stability and catalytic activity in the encapsulated state, presenting a promising avenue for the industrial application of the enzyme.

Localized nuclear reaction breaks boron drug capsules loaded with immune adjuvants for cancer immunotherapy

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) was clinically approved in 2020 and exhibits remarkable tumour rejection in preclinical and clinical studies. It is binary radiotherapy that may selectively deposit two deadly high-energy particles (4He and 7Li) within a cancer cell. As a radiotherapy induced by localized nuclear reaction, few studies have reported its abscopal anti-tumour effect, which has limited its further clinical applications. Here, we engineer a neutron-activated boron capsule that synergizes BNCT and controlled immune adjuvants release to provoke a potent anti-tumour immune response. This study demonstrates that boron neutron capture nuclear reaction forms considerable defects in boron capsule that augments the drug release. The following single-cell sequencing unveils the fact and mechanism that BNCT heats anti-tumour immunity. In female mice tumour models, BNCT and the controlled drug release triggered by localized nuclear reaction causes nearly complete regression of both primary and distant tumour grafts.

Multivariate Porous Aromatic Frameworks with High Porosity and Hierarchical Structures for Enzyme Immobilization

As materials with permanently porous structures and readily modifying availability, porous aromatic frameworks (PAFs) are considered as promising porous materials with versatile functionality. Currently the designable synthesis of PAFs with the desired surface area and pore size is still a challenge, and instead kinetically irreversible coupling reactions for PAFs synthesis has resulted in the unpredictable connection of building units. Herein, a series of PAFs with highly porous and hierarchical structures were successfully synthesized through a multivariate inspired strategy, where multiple building units with various topologies and sizes were selected for PAFs synthesis. All the PAFs synthesized through this strategy possessed hierarchical structures and high specific surface areas at the same time. Encouraged by their high surface area and hierarchical structures, we loaded lipase onto one of the multivariate PAFs. The enzyme loading content of the obtained lipase@PAF-147 was as high as 1456 mg g^-1, which surpassed any other currently reported enzyme loading materials. The lipase@PAF-147 also exhibited favorable catalytic activity and stability to a model reaction of p-nitrophenyl caprylate (p-NPC) hydrolysis. This multivariate strategy inspired synthetic method broadens the selection of building units for PAFs design and opens a new avenue for the design of functional porous materials.

Construction of Covalent Organic Framework Capsule-Based Nanoreactor for Sensitive Glucose Detection

Enzyme immobilization is critical to boosting its application in various areas. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are ideal hosts for enzyme immobilization due to their porous and predesignable structures. Nevertheless, the construction of COFs-based enzyme immobilization systems with high activity via existing immobilization methods (including covalent linkages and channel entrapment) remains a considerable challenge. Herein, a versatile approach was introduced to encapsulate enzymes within hollow COF capsule (named enzyme@COF) using metal-organic frameworks (including ZPF-1(C8H11N4O4.5Zn), ZIF-8(C8H10N4Zn), and ZIF-90(C8H6N4O2Zn)) as sacrificial templates. The obtained porous COF capsule could not only facilitate the efficient mass transfer of enzymatic reactions but also protect enzymes against the incompatible conditions, resulting in enhanced activity and stability of the encapsulated enzymes. Moreover, this approach offered an opportunity to spatially organize multienzymes in COF capsule to construct enzyme cascade system. For instance, glucose oxidase (GOx) and cytochrome c (Cyt c) were coencapsulated within COF capsule to construct GOx-Cyt c cascade. The integration of GOx and Cyt c within COF capsule achieved ∼1.6-fold improvement in catalytic activity than that of free enzymes and the resultant GOx-Cyt c@COF was successfully adopted as a nanoreactor for the sensitive determination of glucose in serum. This work provided a new insight into the design of COFs-based enzyme immobilization systems.

Unveiling the orientation and dynamics of enzymes in unstructured artificial compartments of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)

Confining enzymes in well-shaped MOF compartments is a promising approach to mimic the cellular environment of enzymes and determine enzyme structure-function relationship therein. Under the cellular crowding, however, enzymes can also be confined in unstructured spaces that are close to the shapes/outlines of the enzyme. Therefore, for a better understanding of enzymes in their physiological environments, it is necessary to study enzymes in these unstructured spaces. However, practically it is challenging to create compartments that are close to the outline of an enzyme and probe enzyme structural information therein. Here, for proof-of-principle, we confined a model enzyme, lysozyme, in the crystal defects of a MOF via co-crystallization, where lysozyme served as the nuclei for MOF crystal scaffolds to grow on so that unstructured spaces close to the outline of lysozyme are created, and determined enzyme relative orientation and dynamics. This effort is important for understanding enzymes in near-native environments and guiding the rational design of biocatalysts that mimic how nature confines enzymes.

Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs) as Multi-Target Multifunctional Frameworks

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs), synthesized from organic monomers, are porous crystalline polymers. Monomers get attached through strong covalent bonds to form 2D and 3D structures. The adjustable pore size, high stability (chemical and thermal), and metal-free nature of COFs make their applications wider. This review article briefly elaborates the synthesis, types, and applications (catalysis, environmental Remediation, sensors) of COFs. Furthermore, the applications of COFs as biomaterials are comprehensively discussed. There are several reported COFs having good results in anti-cancer and anti-bacterial treatments. At the end, some newly reported COFs having anti-viral and wound healing properties are also discussed.

Laccase-functionalized magnetic framework composite enabled chlorophenols degradation, a potential remediation for fungicides residues in leather

Abstract

Chlorophenols, used as the fungicides in leather, are strictly limited in leather products. In this work, a metal–organic framework material, zeolitic metal azolate framework-7 (MAF-7), was first used to encapsulate laccase (Lac) to prepare MAF-7/Lac bio-composites with 98.5% immobilization yield. Afterward, Lac/MNP@MOM was formed by introducing the magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) into the Lac@MOM. MAF-7 with better hydrophilicity and stronger pH buffering ability, exhibits good compatibility with laccase, which can reserve the activity of laccase after immobilization. Moreover, the porous structure of MAF-7 is favorable for the sufficient contact between laccase and substrates. Lac/MNP@MOM exhibited excellent activity when exposed to high temperature, extreme pH, and organic solvents, which also simplified complex recovery steps. Furthermore, the degradation rate of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) could reach as high as 97% within 24 h by immobilized laccase, and after nine consecutive cycles of operation, enzyme activity could remain over 80%, which gives it the potential for practical applications.

Graphical abstract

Mechanism for Topology Selection of Isomeric Two-Dimensional Covalent Organic Frameworks

The mechanism of growth of one of the competitive topologies for covalent organic frameworks with constitutional isomers is poorly understood. Herein, we employ molecular dynamics to study the isoenergetic assembly of the rhombic square (sql) and Kagome lattice (kgm). The concentration, solvent conditions, and the reversibility of chemical reactions are considered by means of an Arrhenius two-state model to describe the reactions. High concentrations and poor solvent both result in sql, agreeing well with recent experiments. Moreover, the high reversibility of reactions gives rise to sql, while the low reversibility leads to kgm, suggesting a new way of regulating the topology. Our analyses support that the nucleation of isomers influenced by experimental conditions is responsible for the selection of topologies, which improves understanding of the control of topology. We also propose a strategy in which a two-step growth can be exploited to greatly improve the crystallinity of kgm.

Confining enzymes in porous organic frameworks: from synthetic strategy and characterization to healthcare applications

Enzymes are a class of natural catalysts with high efficiency, specificity, and selectivity unmatched by their synthetic counterparts and dictate a myriad of reactions that constitute various cascades in living cells. The development of suitable supports is significant for the immobilization of structurally flexible enzymes, enabling biomimetic transformation in the extracellular environment. Accordingly, porous organic frameworks, including metal organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs) and hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs), have emerged as ideal supports for the immobilization of enzymes because of their structural features including ultrahigh surface area, tailorable porosity, and versatile framework compositions. Specially, organic framework-encased enzymes have shown significant enhancement in stability and reusability, and their tailorable pore opening provides a gatekeeper-like effect for guest sieving, which is beneficial for mimicking intracellular biocatalysis processes. This immobilization technique brings new insight into the development of next-generation enzyme materials and shows huge potential in healthcare applications, such as biomarker diagnosis, biostorage, and cancer and antibacterial therapies. In this review, we describe the state-of-the-art strategies for the structural immobilization of enzymes using the well-explored MOFs and burgeoning COFs and HOFs as scaffolds, with special emphasis on how these porous framework-confined technologies can provide a favorable microenvironment for mimicking natural biocatalysis. Subsequently, advanced characterization techniques for enzyme conformation, the effect of the confined microenvironment on the activity of enzymes, and the emerging healthcare applications will be surveyed.

Immobilized glucose oxidase on hierarchically porous COFs and integrated nanozymes: a cascade reaction strategy for ratiometric fluorescence sensors

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with uniform porosity, good stability, and desired biocompatibility can function as carriers of immobilized enzymes. However, the obstructed pores or partially obstructed pores have hindered their applicability after loading enzymes. In this study, the hierarchical COFs were prepared as an ideal support to immobilize glucose oxidase (GOD) and obtain GOD@COF. The hierarchical porosity and porous structures of COFs provided sufficient sites to immobilize GOD and increased the rate of diffusion of substrate and product. Moreover, N,Fe-doped carbon dots (N,Fe-CDs) with peroxidase-like activity were introduced to combine with GOD@COF to construct an enzyme-mediated cascade reaction, which is the basis of the sensor GOD@COF/N,Fe-CDs. The sensor has been successfully built and applied to detect glucose. The limit of detection was 0.59 μM for determining glucose with the proposed fluorescence sensor. The practicability was illustrated by detecting glucose in human serum and saliva samples with satisfactory recoveries. The proposed sensor provided a novel strategy that introduced COF-immobilized enzymes for cascade reactions in biosensing and clinical diagnosis.

Enhancing Enzyme Activity by the Modulation of Covalent Interactions in the Confined Channels of Covalent Organic Frameworks

Controllable regulations on the enzyme conformation to optimize catalytic performance are highly desired for the immobilized biocatalysts yet remain challenging. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) possess confined channels with finely tunable pore environment, offering a promising platform for enzyme encapsulation. Herein, we covalently immobilized the cytochrome c (Cyt c) in the size-matched channels of COFs with different contents of anchoring site, and significant enhancement of the stability and activity (≈600 % relative activity compared with free enzyme) can be realized by optimizing the covalent interactions. Structural analyses on the immobilized Cyt c suggest that covalent bonding could induce conformational perturbation resulting in more accessible active sites. The effectiveness of the covalent interaction modulation together with the tailorable confined channels of COFs offers promise to develop high-performance biocatalysts.

Aerobic Photobiocatalysis Enabled by Combining Core-Shell Nanophotoreactors and Native Enzymes

Biocatalysis has become a powerful tool in synthetic chemistry, where enzymes are used to produce highly selective products under mild conditions. Using photocatalytically regenerated cofactors in synergistic combination with enzymes in a cascade fashion offers an efficient synthetic route to produce specific compounds. However, the combination of enzymes and photocatalysts has been limited due to the rapid degradation of the biomaterials by photogenerated reactive oxygen species, which denature and deactivate the enzymatic material. Here, we design core-shell structured porous nano-photoreactors for highly stable and recyclable photobiocatalysis under aerobic conditions. The enzymatic cofactor NAD⁺ from NADH can be efficiently regenerated by the photoactive organosilica core, while photogenerated active oxygen species are trapped and deactivated through the non-photoactive shell, protecting the enzymatic material. The versatility of these photocatalytic core-shell nanoreactors was demonstrated in tandem with two different enzymatic systems, glycerol dehydrogenase and glucose 1-dehydrogenase, where long-term enzyme stability was observed for the core-shell photocatalytic system.

Installation of synergistic binding sites onto porous organic polymers for efficient removal of perfluorooctanoic acid

Herein, we report a strategy to construct highly efficient perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) adsorbents by installing synergistic electrostatic/hydrophobic sites onto porous organic polymers (POPs). The constructed model material of PAF-1-NDMB (NDMB = N,N-dimethyl-butylamine) demonstrates an exceptionally high PFOA uptake capacity over 2000 mg g-1, which is 14.8 times enhancement compared with its parent material of PAF-1. And it is 32.0 and 24.1 times higher than benchmark materials of DFB-CDP (β-cyclodextrin (β-CD)-based polymer network) and activated carbon under the same conditions. Furthermore, PAF-1-NDMB exhibits the highest k2 value of 24,000 g mg-1 h-1 among all reported PFOA sorbents. And it can remove 99.99% PFOA from 1000 ppb to <70 ppt within 2 min, which is lower than the advisory level of Environmental Protection Agency of United States. This work thus not only provides a generic approach for constructing PFOA adsorbents, but also develops POPs as a platform for PFOA capture.

Constructing Stable Chromenoquinoline-Based Covalent Organic Frameworks via Intramolecular Povarov Reaction

Chemically stable chromenoquinoline (CQ)-based covalent organic frameworks (COFs) were constructed by postsynthetic conversion of imine COFs. The key step of an intramolecular Povarov reaction can transform a preintegrated alkyne group to bridge the benzene rings on both sides of the imine linkage via chemical bonds, affording a ladder-type CQ linkage. This novel approach achieves a high cyclization degree of 80-90%, which endows the CQ-COFs with excellent chemical stability toward strong acid, base, and redox reagents. The synthetic approach can be applied to various monomers with different symmetries and functional core moieties. The absorption and fluorescence intensities of CQ-COFs are sensitive to acid, which allows for dual-mode sensing of strongly acidic environments.